In this study, the global team of IDC analysts presents the top 10 predictions around intelligent ERP (i-ERP) and associated intelligent enterprise applications. i-ERP and intelligent enterprise applications use machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), and advanced analytics built on a large, curated data set to forecast, track, learn, route, analyze, predict, report, and manage enterprise assets and business processes. Intelligent ERP and intelligent enterprise applications feature an assistive and conversational user experience and free users’ time for higher-value tasks by automating high-volume repeatable tasks and augmenting (via human-machine interaction) the performance of less frequent, more novel tasks. They are capable of processing, analyzing, and acting on massive volumes of data in real time using in-memory computing (IMC) technologies. As systems that learn, i-ERP and intelligent enterprise applications must allow for ongoing reconfiguration to enable process refinements and user experience (UX) adaption.

Technology is changing the concept of work as we know it and the technological advances anticipated over the next several years will dramatically continue to do so. This evolution is expected to have a substantial impact on an organization’s work culture, work space and workforce. Specifically, each of these organizational pillars is influenced in the following manner:

This IDC FutureScape provides retail IT executives across
the globe with actionable insights and analysis for likely future
technology and business scenarios. The intended readers of this IDC
FutureScape include but are not limited to members of the executive,
business, and IT leadership of retail organizations worldwide.

Life sciences supply chains need to adjust to increasingly complex environments globally. Pharma manufacturers and wholesalers in Europe must undergo a fundamental transformation to remain competitive in this market. The rapidly approaching deadline of the European Union’s Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD) for drug serialization and traceability is currently the top concern of life science companies supplying pharmaceutical products to the European markets. However, companies can take this opportunity to upgrade their digital systems and operations and realize the broader potential of the 3rd platform and innovation accelerator technologies to achieve “smart compliance,” deriving a longer-term business value for their supply chains.

Providing a differentiated customer experience is becoming more difficult for brands. Yes, customers are integrating more technology into their lives that results in more channels engage with and more data for the brand, it also makes it more difficult to provide a consistent experience across those channels to effectively and contextually target those customers with the right experience without more technology. It is becoming a never-ending cycle.

IT leaders have never had so much choice in their infrastructure strategies, on-premises, off-premises, and the increasingly common hybrid model. With this expanding range of choices comes the potential to positively impact budgets, staffing, operational effectiveness, and business outcomes by reaching the right balance.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the second biggest retail and ecommerce sales events globally each year (second only to Singles Day). During this time, companies would historically hire an abundance of temporary labor to ramp up their ability to move product onto their racks and move this material off of those same shelves to the customer. But, the well documented shortage of labor in many major markets, including the US, Japan, Germany, and more, has made it more difficult and more expensive to increase capacity in this manner. Companies today, however, have a new set of tools at their disposal to help ramp up capacity. Robots are helping companies more quickly adapt to short term capacity increase requirements.

IDC’stop 10 predictions for the 2019 worldwide connected vehicle market were developed with input from technology and product vendors, service providers, and technology buyers in the automotive, IT, and government segments as well as from IDC’s connected vehicle analysts. These predictions focus on providing guidance on key connected vehicle trends that impact the automotive service value chain, from vehicle manufacturers (OEMs) and tier 1 suppliers to wireless network operators and state and local governments.

Utilities are facing challenges in their transformation journey. They need to overcome siloed initiatives by integrating and orchestrating change across the organization. They need to strengthen weak road maps, which are responsible for the transformation deadlock. They must close their talent gap and overcome their inability to scale up innovation. Finally, they need to introduce new sets of key performance indicators (KPIs). This journey is neither easy nor painless, but if they will do it right, they will deliver value to customers, employees, shareholders, and society.

The 3D printing market continues to advance with new price/performance levels achieved on an ongoing basis. The result of this market evolution is that new applications satisfied by 3D printing are either recently available or expected to be available in the near future. The end result is that 3D printing is part of a technology ecosystem that is fueling substantial digital transformation (DX) activity.